I found a neat way to get rid of Yellow Jackets
& Wasps. Get a bee trap at a Hardware store like Lowe's. They work real well and it's poison free.

I use fruit juice & ground meat in my trap for bait. I also use soda pop.

Does anybody here use bee traps?? If so what do you use for bait?

I know that smoke will chase yellow jackets from their nest, allowing you time to knock it down.

And I know how NOT to get rid of yellow jackets:
DON'T go up to the nest and spray insecticide on it - this just ticks them off and they'll take off after you!
I saw my neighbor doing this, so I just pulled up a chair and watched the fun! (He was already into it so I couldn't stop him! But don't worry - he didn't get hurt!)
(Before you tell me that was mean - Think! How do you think I knew what was going to happen?)

Texan-In-(Been there did that!)Exile

I agree about the direct approach not being the best choice. Several years ago I was mowing around one of the large bushes in my front yard and all of a sudden it felt like I had dropped hot solder on my hand. WTF? I looked down and saw a hornet with several more emerging from the bush. Luckily I was wearing long sleeves and sweat pants and a cap. I took off running and in doing so lost my cap, which was a good thing since they decided to attack it and left me alone. I ended up spraying the nest, which was about the size of a football, after dark for a couple days in a row. I used the stuff that had a range of about 10'. I then torched it. My poor bush looked like the death star, but the hornets were gone. Every year I peek in all of the bushes before pruning or mowing so I don't get surprised again.

We use rotted apples, fruit, or a piece of "expired meat" you can sometimes get in grocery stores for free or dirt-cheap. One person on a message board I go to says they use a few pieces of dried cat food or dog food.

If you are interested in buying a trap...take a look at:

This trap

or this one...

My friend made one which involved a cup(rightside up)*we will call it "Cup A"* and a larger cup(upside down)*Cup B"* and a bowl *The Bowl*
The bait (about 2 inches of apple juice) was put inside Cup A. Then she attatched 4 toothpicks to the top of Cup A with DUCT TAPE so that the toothpicks extended above the edge of the cup. Then she put Cup B upside-down on the toothpicks. She placed the entire thing into the bowl. Apparently it worked because she had a bunch of yellowjackets within a week that had gotten in but hadn't gotten out. I haven't tried it but she says it works.

Oh. Obviously these are not heavy cups. More like those plastic ones. Do not use styrofoam though, as I've heard they can chew through that... ?

good luck!

Here in the midwest, we have a big problem with wasps and hornets, not to mention great big bees...

I use a trap made from 20 oz and 1-liter plastic bottles.... cut the top off near where it starts to go straight down. I put about 1/4 cup water, 1/8 cup corn syrup or sugar (mix until dissolved), and then a few squirts of dishsoap in the bottom of the bottle. Stir, but don't shake. Then, invert the top of the bottle, so that the spout is facing down. Either tape or staple the inverted top to the sides.

The sweetness will attract the insects and they will crawl into the bottle and won't be able to get back out.

You can either set these around your deck or patio, or you can punch holes in the top edge and hang them.

They make decorative flying insect catchers where they recommend the same solution to attract and kill them, but these are much cheaper and disposable.